Ideas for my site/workbook

From: Xavier Pacheco (xavier_at__nospam_xapware.com)
Date: 07/31/04 

Date: 31 Jul 2004 07:26:29 -0700

I'd like to gather your thoughts on what I'm intending to do for my
site to support the book. I've have the url delphiguru.com (which I'm
still needing to get going). Basically, I'd like to provide Delphi for
.net training using my book as the supplement.

Intent 1:

First, I'm going to be developing a training workbook to accompany my
book which I intend to sell. This workbook is to give team leads
something that they could use to train their employees without having
to send them to classes that cost an arm and a leg. (side note: I
realize that some companies prefer this so I'll be offering my own
courses through xapware and I'll only take an arm & there are other
companies that do this). I don't know what the workbook will cost yet.
I'm also hoping that when people acquire the workbook that they are
honest about the number of copies. I obviously can't prevent somebody
from buying one copy and making 20. It's going to take me about 4-6
months to have it complete. The workbook will likely be structured into
sections each containing:

        * Syllabus (what to read)
        * supplemental material
        * exercises
        * recommended solutions to exercises

Intent 2: The site

I'm thinking of a free section of the site which is basically like
every other site out there with articles, links, forums, pages with my
book errata and supplemental materials, etc.

In another section, I'm wondering if it is feasible to have a section
where one could pay for access for (1, 3, 6, 12 months) at about $5 a
month. That's about the cost of a magazine subscription. What they'd
get is:

- advanced access to my workbook
- advanced access to any articles/materials I write
- 2 Delphi for .NET video lessons per week of approx 15-20 mins each

        * 1 beginner Delphi for .NET video
        * 1 intermediate to advanced Delphi for .NET video
- 2 .NET Framework videos per month approx 15-20 mins each

- Access to private forums where you can converse with the author (and
others) about the lessons/videos

Basically, it's about training. I'm wanting to put together a resource
that organizations/individuals can use to teach themselves Delphi 8.
I'd like to recover the costs in the time I put into all of this. I'd
like to launch this September 1.

What are your thoughts? Feasible? Please be honest. I have to decide
whether I create a static site to support my book, or if I put a lot of
time into this. If I get positive feedback on this, I'm wondering

- how do I discourage piracy on my workbook
- how do I discourage account sharing
- should I care about the above two items?
- how do I make 36 hours out of 24?
- why do we have to sleep? Does anybody know if there is any research
on eliminating this awful waste of time? It actually angers me when I
get tired and need to sleep.

By the way, I just thought of this this morning as a result of the
previous discussions we've been having. 

-- 
Xavier Pacheco
President, Consultant
Xapware Technologies Inc
www.xapware.com
---
Author - Delphi for .NET Developer's Guide
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0672324431/

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Ideas for my site/workbook
    ... Xavier Pacheco wrote: ... > I'd like to gather your thoughts on what I'm intending to do for my ... > site to support the book. ... I don't know what the workbook will cost yet. ...
    (borland.public.delphi.non-technical)
  • Re: Macro
    ... For the macro, I would prefer it to be formulas, but as long as it ... Do you want to store the source sheet and the generated budget report ... in the same workbook ... Cost and Sub Cost columns? ...
    (microsoft.public.excel.programming)
  • RE: How to split and consolidate sheets into new workbooks
    ... is the same or at least A in workbook 1 is equal to A in workbook 2, ... Go through each worksheet and gather the nameof the cost centres. ... Again deal with cells that have greater than 255 characters. ...
    (microsoft.public.excel.programming)
  • RE: How to split and consolidate sheets into new workbooks
    ... > is the same or at least A in workbook 1 is equal to A in workbook 2, ... > Go through each worksheet and gather the nameof the cost centres. ... > Again deal with cells that have greater than 255 characters. ...
    (microsoft.public.excel.programming)
  • RE: How to split and consolidate sheets into new workbooks
    ... macro for each of the instructions provided) you can cut/copy the pieces ... >> not necessary to be present in workbook 3. ... >> Go through each worksheet and gather the nameof the cost centres. ...
    (microsoft.public.excel.programming)